Interior restoration/ build suggestions

Start thinking out of the box .. With the weather the way it is do you really want to own a boat .. 9 months on the hard and 3 in the water .. Same as last year ..
 
IAN13 said:
Start thinking out of the box .. With the weather the way it is do you really want to own a boat .. 9 months on the hard and 3 in the water .. Same as last year ..
Click to expand...

I've moved to where it rains regardless of the time of year and people have full cockpit covers and heaters... I also have the Fraser River half a mile from me hoose.

Anyhow, I'm idly thinking of a 36' long keeler that's advertised locally which I could get for 600 squids - not much more than a (good) GRP shell and a rebuilt motor, but who knows?
 
Last edited:
armchairsailor said:
I've moved to where it rains regardless of the time of year and people have full cockpit covers and heaters... I also have the Fraser River half a mile from me hoose.

Anyhow, I'm idly thinking of a 36' long keeler that's advertised locally which I could get for 600 squids - not much more than a (good) GRP shell and a rebuilt motor, but who knows?
Click to expand...

Armchairsailor,

I'd say if you are willing and remotely qualified to put some DIY effort in, go for it !

Not many people are these days even when they claim to be broke, hence the demise of kit boats...

Good Luck,

Andy
 
armchairsailor said:
The scary thing is, SWMBO's given her approval if Mr Taxman gives me my expected rebate. :eek:
Click to expand...

She obviously wants to get you out of the house. You are buying the nautical equivalent of a garden shed - somewhere to escape and spend the time achieving very little. If you have to ask how to do it, don't start, otherwise you risk turning a £600 40% complete boat into £1000 (if you are lucky) 80% completed boat - spending about £20000 along the way and losing 5 years of your life. Ask your self why is it only £600? answer, because nobody wants it so it has no monetary value!

On a positive note there are (or have been) a number of books written on the subject. Bruce Bingham has written extensively on both ideas for fitting out and techniques. A good source for other books is the American Woodenboat catalogue.
 
Armchairsailor,

please don't be put off by the sceptics who say " nothing is any good under £100,000 or if it doesn't make a killing profit " - which IMO is not what sailing is all about !

There are a lot of good designs out there just needing a refit; and I know quite a few people who get almost as much fun working on a boat as sailing her, I'm one, and have a friend who now admits the most fun he gets is searching then bartering for boaty things on E-Bay !

So while in refit feel free to treat her as a ' garden shed ' to keep your personal collection of gentlemans' magazines whatever for perusal on work breaks, then one day you'll be bobbing along on the open sea with the sun on your face.
 
I am all too painfully aware of the gargantuan task of fitting out a boat like that - it would be the same as getting a hull from Hunter and then starting from scratch. I am also painfully aware of the tasks I need to do at our home first (I need to fit convert a large garage into a cottage, build a dozen stables and a number of other projects!), and the associated cost of fitting out a boat from a bare shell. Even more, I have the nickname of "Half Job Bob", so let's just say I am going to be realistic, no matter what.

However, in my favour are several factors - most importantly, the blessing of my dear wife (who does have plenty of life insurance on me), but also the space, time, a number of 2nd hand boat parts suppliers and wreckers; and a fair amount of carpentry ability, learnt on building the extension that paid for our emigration. My fag packet calculations have shown that I'd spend a shedload more over the long term than buying the boat I have my eye on, but it would be a different type of project altogether, and one that could be seen as a journey, rather than a destination.

http://www.islandyachtsales.ca/sailboats/Fraser_36/Goolka.jpg

I dunno, but they do look nice...
 
Last edited:
I have just done what you propose.

I had a few golden rules:

1) winter is for restoration and summer is for sailing. If you don't sail in the summer, you will give up.

2) anyone who works on my boat must be happy to teach me so I learn how to do what they can do. I've had the very best apprenticeship that money really cannot buy.

3) I need to understand why each job needs doing. I have spent a lot of time thinking through the changes we made so that I fully understood why they were being made. I didn't want a boat that had a fundamental design problem tht would prevent me achieving my personal sailing ambitions.

And would I do it again, probably not or at lest not for a long time. Do I regret it, no. Have I enjoyed it, oh yes. Does it give me a safety edge, I think so because there is nothing that I don't understand or cannot fix on my boat.

Last point, buy wooden. It really is the nicest material to work in and does give a sense of tradition.
 
armchairsailor said:
I am all too painfully aware of the gargantuan task of fitting out a boat like that - it would be the same as getting a hull from Hunter and then starting from scratch. I am also painfully aware of the tasks I need to do at our home first (I need to fit convert a large garage into a cottage, build a dozen stables and a number of other projects!), and the associated cost of fitting out a boat from a bare shell. Even more, I have the nickname of "Half Job Bob", so let's just say I am going to be realistic, no matter what.

However, in my favour are several factors - most importantly, the blessing of my dear wife (who does have plenty of life insurance on me), but also the space, time, a number of 2nd hand boat parts suppliers and wreckers; and a fair amount of carpentry ability, learnt on building the extension that paid for our emigration. My fag packet calculations have shown that I'd spend a shedload more over the long term than buying the boat I have my eye on, but it would be a different type of project altogether, and one that could be seen as a journey, rather than a destination.

http://www.islandyachtsales.ca/sailboats/Fraser_36/Goolka.jpg

I dunno, but they do look nice...
Click to expand...

Reading that you seem to be me,lots of half finished stuff wife who wanted me to buy a boat.......the journey rather than the destination is certainly an interesting veiw which I will think about;whether fixing the roof of the barn enters into the scope of the philosophy is a different bmatter!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

A
HELP! Trapper 300 Restoration - Seeking Blueprints for a Unique Family Yacht!
Replies
2
Views
268
Neeves
N

Share this page

Top